Women's Basketball Ranked No. 18 in Preseason
October 09, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 9, 2001
Louisville, Ky. - The University of Louisville women's basketball team earned a preseason ranking of No. 18 by Basketball News, marking its highest preseason ranking in school history. Head coach Martin Clapp returns all five starters from last season's Conference USA Championship team.
Highlighting the returnees are three perimeter players Sara Nord, Kara Kessans and Marju Sober. Nord, a freshman All-American, earned first team all-conference honors and led the league in assists, averaging 7.7 per game. Kessans has been a solid performer for the Cards the last three seasons. She finished third in scoring last season, averaging 12.4 points per game. Sober earned second team all-conference honors. She led the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game.
The frontcourt returns senior center Shamika Ingram. Ingram led the team in rebounding with 6.6 boards per game and was ranked fourth in scoring with 8.1 points per game. Junior Tiana Ford also returns as a solid performer in the middle, averaging 6.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
Unlike last season the Cardinals will have added depth to the front court with the additions of junior college transfer Amanda Wolke and transfer LaKisha Hoffman. Wolke was ranked as the No. 2 Junior College player by Blue Star and averaged 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last season. Hoffman joins the team after sitting out last season per NCAA transfer rules. She led Western Illinois in rebounding and scoring her sophomore year with 12.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
Louisville will host its first exhibition game on Oct. 31 against Athletes in Action at 6:00 p.m. in Freedom Hall. The game is the first game of a doubleheader with the men.
Basketball News Preseason Top 251. Vanderbilt2. Iowa State3. Duke4. Oklahoma5. Connecticut6. Tennessee7. Notre Dame8. Louisiana Tech9. Purdue10. Virginia11. Florida12. Texas Tech13. Iowa14. Baylor15. Georgia16. Arizona State17. Wisconsin18. Louisville19. Stanford20. Clemson21. Michigan22. Virginia Tech23. George Washington24. Washington25. Penn State
